Many of the common diseases plaguing Western society (e.g. obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease) are the result of a complex interaction between genes and the environment. Second only to smoking, diet and physical inactivity are among the primary environmental factors that cause preventable death in the United States. Armed with an increased availability of genetically modified mouse models, a growing number of studies have begun to delineate the mechanisms by which specific genetic alterations predispose the organism to environment-induced disease states (e.g. diet-induced obesity). The primary research focus at the Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) is to investigate the nutritional needs of pregnant and nursing women, as well as children from conception through adolescence. Research at the CNRC is focused on determining how alterations in early life nutrition may influence the development of maturity-related diseases, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. A large number of investigators at the CNRC utilize animal models to investigate the influence of specific dietary manipulations on both physiological and pathophysiological processes, with the ultimate goal of translating these basic research studies directly into the design of clinical trails, as well as implementation of government policy regarding human nutritional guidelines. With the increasing availability of mouse models of human disease, an urgent need has arisen for the systematic monitoring of mice during nutritional studies. The Columbus Instruments Comprehensive Laboratory Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS) configuration requested in the current application will enable the simultaneous monitoring and/or control of food intake, fluid intake, urine and feces production, physical activity, core body temperature, heart rate, and energy expenditure. The CLAMS instrument will create the backbone of a Mouse Metabolic Research Unit located at the CNRC, to serve the needs of multiple NIH and other funded researchers within both the CNRC and Baylor College of Medicine. Full institutional support will be provided for the instrument, for its management and operation. It is anticipated that establishment of the CLAMS instrument will accelerate studies designed to identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of common metabolic diseases that currently burden the United States. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]